Jethro Goes to War (Wandering Engineer Jethro's tale)

by Hechtl, Chris

  “Can we sublet the lease from this company?” the gunny asked.

  “Already rejected. And they have made it clear they want you out on the date specified.”

  “Okay,” the gunny said with a scowl, rubbing his brow. “Decisions above my pay grade obviously.”

  “Possibly. But they must be considered carefully by all those involved. You are one of the senior trainers and non commissioned officers so your ideas bear weight,” Smithy responded. Firefly nodded.

  “Okay, I'll float an idea to the Major that we send this class on training exercises in the system and possibly on the next boat out to another system. Maybe we can send a delegation and set up alternative facilities on another planet. Agnosta for one.”

  “That would make it almost impossible to use the college facilities and staff,” Firefly responded. “As well as the medical staff on the station.”

  “We can copy the database. That's easy... As far as the staff...” the gunny shrugged. “We can tap our own people to train the basics, and use canned lectures. We're doing that already. The facilities can be basic... If let's say a ground facility we can start with the boot camp we're using now.”

  “Which would neatly cover the loss of facilities here, and even give your staff and students a more proper environment to train in. At least for ground side ops. It also reduces the power demands on a planet,” Firefly responded sounding thoughtful as the AI gamed the scenario out. “But you will still need an on hand medical staff for injuries. And the augmentation...”

  “That's the sticky point. We can have corpsman on hand to handle emergencies and accidents. The sickbay can grow off of that. We might even use that as a trade item, build a base and allow access to the modern medical facilities to the surrounding population as a trade incentive.”

  “Inspired thought,” Smithy said nodding. “Access to modern medicine and education will be a large incentive to any colony.”

  “Exactly. And having a military base in the area will add some sense of security as well. We could also throw in that we'd help during emergencies. Respond during a major storm or other such natural or man made disaster,” the gunny added, remembering that little detail from snippets he had picked up in researching the history of the corps.

  “I see where this is going. And the engineering staffs can be trained on the planet, and even be used to build or in some cases rebuild roads and planetary infrastructure. Another incentive to sweeten the pot. I've logged this conversation and will bring it up with the commander and the major at the next meeting tomorrow.”

  Schultz opened his eyes in surprise and then closed his mouth with a soft clop. “I ah... was just brainstorming sir.”

  “And the fresh perspective was good Gunnery Sergeant Schultz. Perhaps what we needed to get this knot unraveled. There will be a transitional problem and teething issues during set up and early implementation.”

  “Which can be dealt with or just ridden out. Things will get better over time. They already have here,” the gunny said standing and smoothing his uniform. “You said the Matriarch will be in sickbay?”

  “Shortly. She is in transit now,” Smithy responded.

  “All right, I'll go talk with her. In the mean time, keep an eye on them. And Firefly, if you could maybe throw an aptitude test at Déjà and Hurranna...”

  “Flight test?”

  “If possible. I did note a possible fear of heights in both of them. Keep that in mind.”

  “Understandable organic phobia. With your limited view point it is also a factor to consider, as is possible agoraphobia for some of your troops. We will have to see how they respond when they are given exterior training.”

  “You mean space walks?” Schultz froze. “Hell, I forgot about that,” he grimaced.

  “Yes. And you will be training for it as well. Starting in three days actually gunnery sergeant. Check your schedule. You will need to stay ahead of the training curve so you can pass the skills on to the recruits.”

  “And not look like a total ass in front of them,” Schultz grimaced. “All right, I'll remember,” he said gruffly. He shook his head as he walked out.

  Chapter 6

  “Did you get what you wanted?” the Major asked as the gunny came into the wardroom. The gunny stiffened and then shrugged.

  “If you mean the information from the clan Matriarch yes sir. She gave me the originals. I made copies and gave it back to her. I'm going over them now.”

  “Ah. Valenko uploaded the biography of Chester Puller onto the net. I had heard of him but had forgotten. He's in the Galactic encyclopedia by the way. I did a search and found him when I found out the recruits were watching his bio.”

  “It's a video sir?” the gunny asked, pouring himself a cup of coffee.

  “Yes, several versions actually. There is an E-book as well if you'd prefer that. The video is typically over hyped Hollywood nonsense. But it has a grain of truth to it so I'm allowing it. They also did a good job immortalizing the corps and the general so it may be for the good in the long run,” Major Forth said, feeling relief that the kids had stumbled onto something worthwhile.

  “Yes sir,” Schultz said, stirring his coffee. He put a straw in it and then sat down.

  “The enemy is on our right, on our left, behind us, and in front of us. They can't get away this time,” the Major said shaking his head and smiling.

  “Sir?”

  “Quote attributed to the general. Korean war, circa 1950 I believe. There are several different versions of it in the file though. I did get a laugh at his crack about taking him to the brig to meet the real marines. Or the one where he asked where a bayonet goes on a flamethrower.”

  “Sounds like I need to read up on him sir,” the gunny said amused.

  “You should. I've linked a copy to you. In fact it's all over the corps net. Highest decorated marine for a loooong time. He served in both world wars, Korea, and in minor conflicts all over his career. The man was a legend,” the Major shook his head. “Which makes his boots hard to fill. And it gives the troops one hell of an example to look up to.”

  “Which serves the corps,” the gunny said nodding. “I believe there is a section in the training syllabus about example marines and how they lived up to the morals and values the corps teaches?”

  “Yes. This is a pretty good way of introducing, or in this case reintroducing the corps to that tradition,” the Major smiled slightly. “I've got no problem with it. No problem at all.”

  The gunny nodded, taking a sip of coffee with the straw.

  “I've been going over your proposal, the idea has merit,” the Major said as he took a sip from his own cup. The gunny paused, eyes locking onto the Major. He released the straw and sat back.

  “It wasn't a formal proposal sir, I ah...”

  “You were brainstorming. Firefly told me. Credit where credit is due gunny. The Admiral suggested it as well.”

  The gunny grimaced at that last. “Any word?”

  “No,” the Major sighed. “Destiny left on schedule. Have you briefed the troops yet?”

  “No sir. I wasn't sure what to do about it. He cut and ran. That's a bad example for the troops,” the doberman growled, not sure about the example it set to himself either.

  “Tactical retreat. Or should I say strategic?” the Major asked cocking his head. “Either way, yes it looks bad but he didn't have a lot of choice. Had he stayed he would have had a lot of blood on his conscience. More than he apparently was willing to have.”

  “He wouldn't have pulled the trigger sir,” the gunny growled. “He would have been clean.”

  “No, but he had to avoid it if possible. I've met the man. If he could prevent a loss of life he would go out of his way to do so. Protecting the innocent is what he's about. What we're about for that matter,” he grimaced. “It leaves us a hell of a mess to clean up however,” he shook his head. The Admiral's orders were vague in the extreme. They had hoped for something, anything to go off of. See what he was
planning. Apparently he hadn't planned anything.

  “The committee?” the gunny growled. He'd heard about this conspiracy committee in the senate and house. It was rumored even the governor was a member. He'd love to get his paws on any one of them. Hell, all of them.

  “That and public opinion. Knox has already dug in. He was running it as impartial but when he found out the committee messed with his people and his net he dived in and did that op ed piece on the Port Admiral and his kiddy addiction. He showed a time line of when the Admiral was here, totally debunking the adult nut jobs who were claiming they were abused by him as a child. Of course the real die hards wont admit they were wrong of course.”

  “Of course,” gunny Schultz snorted.

  “Knox did okay. He ripped into the investigation committee for taking an allegation without a shred of evidence at face value over a mountain of video and testimonial evidence to the contrary. He even pointed out that some on the investigation were implicated in the plot. For some reason he's not popular in some circles,” the Major chuckled at the gunny's expression. “Something about being called a left wing liberal mouth piece. He even compared everything the Port Admiral has done to the Admiral and it seems to have made an impact.”

  “Hopefully a positive one sir?”

  “Too early to tell actually. I caught it this morning. Polls are still out,” the Major shrugged. “The committee's attempt to recall Destiny shows that they are regretting their actions,” he said amused.

  “I hope we have an opportunity to make them regret it permanently sir,” Schultz growled in contempt.

  “We can't go half cocked. Or at all in this case.”

  “Why not sir? It is a clear case of terrorism. Under Federation law we can prosecute.”

  The Major sat back rubbing his chin. “That hadn't occurred to me. Just the splatter if we did get involved,” he shook his head thinking hard. “We need to remain as apolitical as possible. But you're right, the Admiral did call them terrorists several times. But we can't come down on them, it will look like a military coup. This has to be official.”

  “Which we can't do when the politicians are the criminals and tying our hands sir. The people we report to have to have some sort of... I don't know. Some sort of responsibility, some sort of mechanism to keep them in check, to take them out if they commit a crime. Especially something of this magnitude.”

  “Agreed. But right now we're on thin ice. The Admiral was hesitant about that, one of the reasons he left I believe. I think he was concerned that since we were just papering over the cracks if he dug in and tore the system apart this early just to get at the bad apples we'd tear the system apart permanently.”

  The gunny grunted. He shook his head after a moment of thought. “As bad as it would be, it would be better in the long run sir. We can't let trash like that stay in power,” he growled.

  “Something we'll have to look into definitely,” the Major replied. “But for now we'll keep a minimum profile. We've already dispatched our own IG investigators to check the story. They confirmed the Admiral's version point for point. Unfortunately the senate committee is calling the report a white wash.”

  “Which of course is causing problems, since they are claiming the recordings are a misunderstanding,” the gunny grimaced. “I wonder if this plays into the whole park thing?”

  The Major tapped his chin with one finger for a moment, thinking that bit over. “No, I believe that started when someone saw what you did to the park itself. That didn't go over well with the historical preservation committee. I've been fielding their rather pungent e-mails for the past couple of weeks,” the Major grimaced remembering a few exchanges. It had felt like a live fire exercise.

  “Oh,” the gunny looked a little sheepish. “It had to be done sir. Wait until they see the crucible.”

  “Agreed. I just wish we'd been able to do it on a planet,” the Major said as he shook his head. “But back to your proposal, we've talked about it, and it has merit. Definite potential. Not only for basic or dirt side training, but for air ops training as well.”

  “Yes sir,” the gunny said, nodding.

  “Your point about offering services is a good idea as well. I wish we could have sent this out before Destiny left, gotten the Admiral to sign off on it. Maybe even had him lay the ground work for it.”

  The gunny looked thoughtful. He stirred his coffee for a moment as the Major drank. “I believe the Admiral will find a way to lend a hand. That will lay groundwork in itself sir,” he said.

  “Knowing him and his reputation, quite possibly true,” the Major smiled. One of the things those near the Admiral admired most about him was his can do attitude and a willingness to dig in and do a job no matter how hard or dirty it was. Which made his retreat all the more perplexing for some. “I'll see if we can get a delegation out on the next ship.”

  “I thought Prometheus would be going sir?” the gunny asked. He'd heard some nasty scuttlebutt going around about the ships in the yard. Work had slowed, they had even started rumors of lay offs.

  “Unfortunately we've got a problem there. We just started her construction when this mess blew up in our faces. She's sidelined. Mothballed really. The yard can build some of her, her structure and some of her electronics, but her hyperdrive, power plants, and most of her replicators we haven't made are out. Which pretty much makes working on the rest of the ship a waste of time until we can get them in. The entire ship is built around her replicators after all.”

  “Ah,” the gunny frowned. “I didn't know,” he shook his head.

  “The Admiral was planning on getting her replicators in when he got back. And I believe he had dropped a few hints about going out with her. At least for her first run. That way he could assess things himself and do any unlocks.”

  The gunny winced. “Sometimes I think our ancestors should never have done that. Those locks have been nothing but trouble. We'd be back to where they had been if we...”

  “Or with people like the committee in charge we'd have torn ourselves apart,” the Major said interrupting. The gunny frowned and then shrugged.

  “True. Too true sir,” he said softly.

  ...*...*...*...*...

  The gunny watched as Jefferson walked up and down the troops. Training was back to basics as they got used to their abilities and shook off the nearly week long rehab and implant training. He'd had it easy he realized. When he'd gone under the knife for the first time they'd only had time for basic implants and a little cleaning. Since he'd been in the body and fender shop for the new parts Thornby had tossed in a full upgrade matching his recruits. He hadn't realized there was much of a difference beyond recovery time until he'd started to test himself. Which was why they were going to train slow. The last thing he wanted was a clumsy recruit accidentally killing someone.

  “You are all clumsy half wits. Trust me on this. Even more than before.” He walked over to the ring and caught a pugil stick Brenet tossed him. “Your implants are going to take some getting used to. You've been getting new muscle over the past couple of weeks, those metafactors have been burning off excess fat and adding muscle. But it screws up your balance. Now with the implants it's even worse until you get the hang of it.”

  “Which is why you're back to basics again,” the gunny growled. A few groaned at that. “Don't worry, it won’t be for long,” he growled again, making it sound more of an ominous threat than some liked.

  “Some of you like a certain idiot...” He walked through the ranks and slammed into Chirby hard. “Did I tell you to fuck around with your Wi-Fi recruit?”

  The Veraxin chattered in surprise. “Around the block, twenty laps move!” the gunny snarled. The Veraxin bobbed in place then moved off to the track going around the bay.

  “As I was saying, you've got some implants the old marines didn't have. Higher minds than I decided to give everyone the same package to make it easier down the road. Since we're going to grow fast, we don't need people out a lot getting
upgrades. So yeah, each of you have Wi-Fi and other do-dads your ancestors didn't have. That doesn't mean you get the privilege to use them until I... TELL... YOU!” he practically screamed the snarl at them. Jethro winced.

  “Don't go fucking around till I or one of the other DI's give you permission. You read?”

  “YES GUNNERY SERGEANT SIR!”

  “Good. Valenko, Sergei front and center. Let's see how badly you two furry sumo wrestlers can do.” He motioned for them to enter the ring. The bear did a few sumo wrestler stomps and then wiggled his fingers. He passed on the ill fitting body armor.

  “Ready for this?” Valenko asked as Sergei strapped on his body armor.

  “Sure. You're going down, you know that?” Sergei said, testing his gloved hands.

  The gunny nodded to the troops. They gathered around the circle. Some began to cheer one or the other combatant on.

  “You think so?”

  “I know so,” the Liger said, slapping his chest with one fist. He held up a hand and then caught the pugil stick. “Come on, I'm going to kick your...”

  He gasped and twisted as the grizzly's pugil went flying past his head. He ducked and then came up twisting. “Hey! I wasn't ready!”

  He danced out of the way but the bear turned, swiping at him. Extended claws ripped into the front of the armor. “Shit! He's serious!” Sergei snarled.

  “You'd better be too recruit!” Jefferson snarled. “Stop acting like my granny and fight!”

  ...*...*...*...*...

  Valenko grinned as Alpha platoon blanched. “Still think this is going to be easy?” he growled across the mud hole. He was glad the gunny had finally passed them on to other things. A week of the usual chickenshit had most of his people bored to tears.

  It was odd thinking they were his people. They weren't they were the corps, but he felt a responsibility to them. He had a feeling he'd have to do something about that soon. Brenet had dropped hints about OCS being in his future.

  “Fuck,” Rigatoni said, shaking his head. His troop had been living it up after defeating Beta and mopping the deck with Delta. Now they were shitting bricks. Sometimes life just wasn't fair.